African Bank

When a bank claims to be ‘for the people’ how do they follow through with a strategy that proves they are truly ‘for the people?’

Client:African Bank

Category:Artificial Intelligence

Date:March 2017

They work with Tangent Solutions to develop technology that revolutionises banking for the people and fits into a society which functions on instant gratification.

Imagine being able to bank without a bank card, to have your card printed in front of you and to have the technology change and adapt to your personal needs when banking. It sounds futuristic, however this technology is here and it comes in the form of the African Bank kiosk.

African Bank approached Tangent Solutions with one request – to develop technology that would provide users with multiple login options. African Bank wanted users to be able to login using a variety of options such as facial recognition, username and password or card and pin – the choice needed to be in the hands of the consumer.

Tangent Solutions saw the potential in the technology and developed the rest. They were able to take this simple idea and digitally transform it.
Ruaan Erasmus, general manager at Tangent Solutions said, “We wanted to make the kiosks highly convenient, user-friendly and personalised for each user. Banking is a personal matter, the systems you use should be too.”

“The technology needed for the African Bank kiosk needed to be easily understood and relevant to whoever uses it… what better way to personalise banking then build personalised marketing into the design?”

When consumers use the African Bank kiosks, they are presented with tailored advertising and options that are unique to their banking and technological abilities and experience, Furthermore, facial recognition within the kiosk allows for safer banking as it is able to detect whether or not a banker is alone in order to carry out their banking.

The omnichannel banking solution Tangent Solutions developed for African Bank will result in fewer lines within the bank’s branches, which are currently geared towards loans. Users will be able to open up accounts, transfer funds in the form of cash or gift cards and conduct their day-to-day banking transactions. “Users are able to conduct personalised banking from the kiosk, transfer money, and specify how and where their money is spent. The receiving person can withdraw the transferred money at (an African Bank?) kiosk, using one of the multiple login systems, regardless of whether they are an account holder or not,” Erasmus said.

Tangent Solutions were able to take a simple request and transform it into something that has the potential to completely change the way in which we bank. Since the kiosks need to be universally understood, the team built the middle layer of the software using Node JS while the front end was built in Angular, wrapped in electron. They also utilised their DevOps system to ensure a quicker time to market and a superior product, which was then deployed into the Azure cloud.

Erasmus said the software was deployed to the Azure cloud because of the security features and technology benefits that Microsoft can offer. “Having a secure environment that is stable and offers the latest in technological advancements was a vital part of the client’s request. Azure is able to offer this and more – and so making the decision to deploy to Azure was logical.”

If you are looking to revolutionise your industry contact Tangent Solutions today at contact@tangentsolutions.co.za

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Established in 2010, Tangent Solutions is a young and energetic company taking an innovative and disruptive approach to software design. As a Microsoft gold partner and the Microsoft 2017 Application Development Partner of the Year, Tangent Solutions prides itself on engaging in the fast-paced and dynamic technology community. This Open Source dev house is Cloud first, DevOps first and Agile first.